try reinstalling the windows media player you could have a missing or corrupted file.
how many other media players do you have installed on your system?
example: ace media player, real player, winamp player, Sono Digital Media Player etc.

double click on your speaker at bottom right to get full volume controls. check all volume adjustments. Or try installing a new desktop theme or something. themeworld.com has plenty of themes with kewl sounds

might also want to try installing winamp, or qcd or another media player